


We do, Friends don't

by needfanfics



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Death, F/M, Fluff, Past Relationship(s), Pre-Relationship, author is not at all projecting her own drama on to these characters, ellie confronts nick, where could you possible get that from
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:07:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27401695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needfanfics/pseuds/needfanfics
Summary: Ellie come to terms with her feelings towards her coworker a long time ago, she has been in love before after all. But the question is if Nick feels the same because she keeps getting mixed messages. She realizes that she has to confront him to get the truth.
Relationships: Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres
Comments: 11
Kudos: 20





	1. The truth

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic so bare with me hehe. I appreciate all and any feedback, comments and kudos! I really hope you enjoy this!
> 
> I have atleast on more chapter for this story but then we'll see

It’s not like Ellie hasn’t been in love before. Hell, she’s even been married once, and engaged for that matter. She knows the feeling well. That’s why she came to terms with her feelings towards her coworker a long time ago. They’ve known each other for about five years now, and she would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t know there would be something special with this relationship from the day she met him. 

Nick was special, unlike the other men she had dated. Jake was a safe choice, but she had still loved him. When they met they connected easely over work and from that everything went pretty fast, and within a year they were married. She had liked being with Jake, but when she left the NSA it didn’t take long for her to realise their connection didn’t run as deep as she had thought. When she found out about his cheating it dawned on her she should have left years ago. 

When she met Qasim she was still in the process of healing. Even with their connection not being as deep as she had thought, she never imagined that Jake would cheat on her. It scared her, if she was being honest. If the man who was supposed to be the safe choice could hurt her like that, what were the others capable of? She was reserved in the beginning when she met Qasim, but he showed her she didn’t have to be afraid anymore. He forced her out of her shell. Even when he proposed to her all he wanted was for her to stop being afraid and hide her feelings. She has a lot to thank him for really. 

But in all of this was Nick. He was her best friend, with her through everything. They did everything together, especially after Qasim had died, and then Reeves. They supported each other through everything. Ellie knew her feelings for the man went beyond that of a friend, had done for quite a while. Maybe even part of her was in denial when she was with Qasim. She didn’t like to think about that though, it seemed too unfair to Qasim. At times she even thought her feelings were reciprocated, but nothing ever happend. 

Her feelings for Nick grew stronger, and she realised this might be a problem. But how could she not love him? He was funny, charming and could talk to anybody. He was so confident when he was interacting with people, even complete strangers, he always seemed so sincere. But Ellie knew there were some things he only told her, and she liked knowing she was the one he trusted most. It also didn’t help her feelings that he was beautiful, she could stare at his tanned skin and beautiful brown eyes for days. Their babies would be the cutest little things ever. 

Ellie would have done something about the situation a lot earlier if she would just get some clear signals from the man. That was the biggest problem, Nick, it seemed, could not make up his mind. He would talk to her for hours on end and tell her things he hadn’t told a soul before. He would tell her she was beautiful and that he loved her eyes. He would take her out to dinner, just the two of them, insisting on paying. In Ellie's book, that was a date, and it seemed like her friends agreed with her to. They would even drink wine and get drunk together. But despite all of this Nick could never wait to tell Ellie about all of his recent hookups. She knew about all of the girls he’d been with, for some reason she was always the first to know. He would complain to her every time he had a new crush who didn’t like him back and she would just sit there and tell him it would be ok. 

Ellie had tried to move on, to forget about her feelings, she had even gone on several dates for goodness sake! But nothing really seemed to work. She remembered the time they were on that double date, it was a mess from start to finish. The words “you’re like a sister to me” seemed to be permanently etched into her brain. She just wished Nick would stop treating her like she was something more than a sister or just a friend when she clearly wasn’t. Ellie was growing more and more tired of playing this game with him. She knew she was going to talk to him soon.

\----------------

As usual when they had finished a case, they were on their way to Ellie's place with too much takeout for only two people. Nick had given her a lift to work that morning so they were in his car. Ellie was nervous, she knew this talk would have to happen tonight, or never. 

“Nick, can I ask you something?” Ellie asked when they had settled down on the couch with their food. 

“Ask away!” Nick answered with food in his mouth.

“What would your perfect date be like? Or what would you do on a first date?” she said not wanting to meet his eyes. 

“Easy!” the man explained. “I would take the girl to a nice little restaurant, everything wouldn’t be perfect but we’d have fun and laugh over the weird food. We’d have a glass of wine and, of course, I would pay. Then i think we would just walk around town and talk about anything and everything.” He had a glint in his eye when he said it, and Ellie couldn't help but smile at how happy he seemed. 

Elle took a deep breath and said “Then how come you’ve done all those things with me if we’re not together?” she really didn't want to meet his eyes right now but she couldn’t help herself. The man looked like a question mark and just blinked at her.

“Eh..what do you mean?" He forced out with what Ellie could swear on was a laugh to joke away the whole conversation. 

“I mean what I just said. Why is your dream date something you’ve already done with me?” Her tone was harder now, but she couldn't afford not to say everything she needed to say. “You want to go to restaurants and have a glass of wine and walk around town and just talk. You want to pay for dinner and everything and be a real gentleman. Well, newsflash Nick, we’ve been doing that almost since we got to know each other.” She had started now and she couldn't stop, it was like the floodgates were open. Not even all of the emotions flashing through Nick’s face could make her stop. “I know friends do those things to Nick, i'm not stupid. I really don’t just want to read something into this if there’s nothing here but you need to be straight with me Nick. You talk to me like I'm the light of your life sometimes, other times it’s like I don't exist. You take me on what even you now describe as dates and you tell me I’m beautiful and all kinds of things. But then you hookup with every other girl you see and tell me, me Nick, about it? Friends can be close yes, but not like this. We do things friends certainly don't do. You have to be straight with me Nick because I don’t know how much more of this I can take!" She was almost screaming now but she couldn't help it. It felt so good getting it all out there. 

Nick just sat there at first, without saying a word. He had put his plate down on the table and just sat there, looking at her. Anxiety started to rise inside Ellie and she began to regret what she had just done. How could she possibly have thought this was a good idea? She had probably just ruined any chance at a relationship or even a friendship with this man. She has promised herself she wouldn't cry but she came closer and closer to breaking that promise for every second Nick was quiet. 

“I...I eh ..I” Nick stammered. He didn’t know what to say. Of course he knew that they were close, like the only time he didn’t spend with her was when he was asleep and even then it would sometimes be at her house. He hadn’t thought about it like this before, he knew he could be stubid sometimes when it came to feelings, but not this much. Everything Ellie had said maked sense. 

“Ellie I.. I’m” he tried again. “I’m so sorry Ellie! I’m so stupid, I’ve never wanted to hurt you, you have to believe me!”

“But you did hurt me Nick. I have come to terms with my feelings towards you, even if you don’t feel the same. I just need you to be honest with me. I can’t go on hoping for something that will never happen. I have to be able to move on without being pulled back in every time I see you.”

Nick could see in Ellie’s eyes and hear in her voice how hurt she was. The fact that he was the one who had caused that made something break inside of him. 

“Ellie I’m so sorry, I have never wanted to hurt you” he said seeking to meet her eyes. “I’m not good at talking about my feelings but I think I’ve been avoiding the truth because I was afraid. I was afraid of not being enough for you, because you deserve the whole world Ellie. You deserve someone better than me. Someone who isn’t afraid to tell you he loves you Ellie, who isn’t broken like me.” Nick was reaching for her hand now, something inside of him needing to hold on to her and comfort her. 

“But what if it was you I wanted Nick? Don’t you get that you are my world? You are perfect to me. Shouldn't I get a say? Before you decide you’re not “worthy” or whatever?" She was holding on to him just as much now. She was still hurt but just hearing him being honest with her for the first time made her heart begin to heal. 

“I’m so sorry Ellie.” Nick’s hand reached up to cup her face and wipe away a tear that was inevitably falling down her cheek. “If you’ll let me, I'll make it up to you for the rest of our lives. I love you Ellie and I want to be with you.” 

“I love you to Nick” and with that Nick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his side. He leaned back against the sofa and pulled her with him. 

They sat like that for a while without any of them saying anything. It didn't seem necessary at the moment. They had each other and that was all that mattered. They knew everything wasn’t perfect but it was enough for now and with Nick holding on to Ellie like he was never going to let her go, she felt her heart heal a little more.


	2. The aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic so bare with me! Happy with all and any feedback, comments and kudos!

The day after they realised they had both fallen asleep on the couch. They woke up late in the morning but thankfully they had a few days of off work after the case they’d just finished. The sun was peeking through the windows in Ellie's living room when Ellie stirred in Nick's armes. She looked around and saw the half eaten plates of food on the table and the memories from last night started to come back. She tried to sit up but something was holding her back. She realized Nick’s arms were still wrapped around her and when they began to squeeze her a little lighter she allowed herself to be pulled back down into his chest. 

“Good morning, Ellie” Nick murmured.

“Good morning to you too” Ellie aswerd back while she nestled herself closer in his arms. Ellie felt happier than she had in a long time, she felt at home in Nick’s arms and never wanted him to let go. 

“Do you want to get up?” Nick asked they had laid in silence for a little bit. “No” to which Nick let out a small laugh. “Aren’t you even hungry?” The sound Ellie's stomach made answered the question for her. Nick began to loosen his arms around her to get up and make them some breakfast, but he felt Ellies hands tighten around his arms before he could get up and as if he could read her thoughts he said “I won't ever let you go or leave you now Ellie. You are my princess. I’m just gonna go and make us some breakfast.” At that Ellie let go of his armes and sat up, allowing him to get up to. “I love you Nick” she said with the most sincere voice Nick had ever heard. “I love you too princess.” 

Nick looked into her eyes, they truly were beautiful, and he couldn't help himself, he leaned in and met his lips with her’s. Ellie leaned in to the kiss as soon as she felt his lips on hers. It was a soft, sweet kiss. It wasn’t just driven lust and desire, it was full of love and trust and forgiveness. When they broke apart they were both breathing a little heavier and their foreheads were pressed together. 

“I love you Ellie and I always will. I promise that i will never leave you.” Nick said looking into her eyes.

“I know” she answered with a smile and kissed him softly again. “Neither will I.”

Nick got up from the couch and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. Knowing Ellie and the fact that they never finished dinner last night he knew to make a lot of it. When he came back to the living room with a plate full of breakfast burritos he found Ellie had pulled out a million blankets and pillows and was scrolling through Netflix to find a movie. She looked up at him and gave him a huge smile and grabbed the plate to set it on the table. 

“I know we still have a lot of things to talk about, Nick” she began as she motioned for him to sit down next to her. “And we will, but right now I just want to be with you” Nick couldn’t agree more and wraped Ellie in his arms again and pulled the blankets over them. Nick brought the plate to his lap and Ellie settled on a movie. They finished the burritos quite quickly and if they spent a little more time kissing than they did paying attention to the movie, no one had to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have some ideas for another chapter so i think i'll make one more, happy to get suggestions too!


End file.
